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Official: Intelligence community warned about 'growing' ISIS threat in Iraq

The U.S. intelligence community warned about the "growing threat" from Sunni militants in Iraq since the beginning of the year, a senior intelligence official said Tuesday -- a claim that challenges assertions by top administration officials that they were caught off guard by the capture of key Iraqi cities.
Earlier Tuesday, in an interview with Fox News, Secretary of State John Kerry said "nobody expected" Iraqi security forces to be decisively driven out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, as they were earlier this month in Mosul.
But in a separate briefing with reporters Tuesday afternoon, the senior intelligence official said the intelligence community had warned about the ISIS threat.
“During the past year, the intelligence community has provided strategic warning of Iraq’s deteriorating security situation," the official said. "We routinely highlighted (ISIS') growing threat in Iraq, the increasing difficulties Iraq’s security forced faced in combating (ISIS), and the political strains that were contributing to Iraq’s declining stability.”
Asked who failed to act, the official did not explain.
Offering a grave warning about the current strength of the group -- which is a State Department-designated terror organization -- the official also said that barring a major counteroffensive, the intelligence community assesses that ISIS is "well-positioned to keep the territory it has gained."The official said the ISIS "strike force" now has between 3,000 and 5,000 members.
Further, the official said ISIS, as a former Al Qaeda affiliate, has the "aspiration and intent" to target U.S. interests. Asked if Americans have joined, the intelligence official said it "stands to reason that Americans have joined."
The information from the intelligence community adds to the picture of what is known about the ISIS threat, and what might have been known in the weeks and months before its militants seized Mosul and other northern cities and towns.
Kerry, speaking with Fox News on Tuesday in the middle of a multi-country swing through the Middle East and Europe as he tries to calm the sectarian crisis in Iraq, pushed back on the notion that more could have been done from a Washington perspective to prevent the takeovers. Pressed on whether the fall of Mosul and other cities to Sunni militants marks an intelligence failure, Kerry said nobody could have predicted Iraqi security forces would have deserted.
"We don't have people embedded in those units, and so obviously nobody knew that. I think everybody in Iraq was surprised. People were surprised everywhere," he said.
The secretary noted that the U.S. and Iraq did not sign a formal agreement allowing troops to stay in the country past 2011, so "we didn't have eyes in there."
"But the Iraqis didn't even have a sense of what was happening," Kerry said.
When asked what the U.S. did to shore up Mosul, after seeing other Iraqi cities fall earlier this year, Kerry added: "In the end, the Iraqis are responsible for their defense, and nobody expected wholesale desertion and wholesale betrayal, in a sense, by some leaders who literally either signed up with the guys who came in or walked away from their posts and put on their civilian clothes.
"No, nobody expected that."
But aside from the apparent warnings from the U.S. intelligence community, reports in The Telegraph and Daily Beast claim that Kurdish sources did warn American and British officials that ISIS was gaining strength and ready to advance, but it "fell on deaf ears."
A senior lieutenant to Lahur Talabani, head of Kurdish intelligence, reportedly told The Daily Beast that the Kurds passed on warnings about a possible takeover of Mosul to British and U.S. government officials.
"We knew exactly what strategy they were going to use, we knew the military planners," the official said.
The Telegraph reported that Washington and London got warnings months ago about Sunni militant plans to try and take over the northwestern region of Iraq. The Kurds reportedly had been monitoring developments on their own.
At this stage, though, the question for Kerry and the Obama administration is how far they are willing to go to shore up the embattled Iraqi government. Kerry, in Baghdad a day earlier, pressed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to proceed with the formation of a new government -- Iraq's parliament is set to begin this process next week.
In the meantime, President Obama has committed up to 300 U.S. military advisers to help Iraq's government fend off ISIS forces. The administration continues to weigh whether to authorize airstrikes.

Cochran defeats McDaniel in tight Mississippi GOP Senate runoff race

WASHINGTON –  Battling for his political survival, six-term Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran narrowly edged out challenger state Sen. Chris McDaniel for the win in a tight Republican runoff race that was too close to call for much of the night.
Neither candidate won the GOP nomination outright in the state's June 3 primary. The runoff was to be a test of whether the Senate veteran Cochran could win over voters with his Washington seniority and clout. 
“It’s been a real pleasure working with so many of you and making appearances in towns all across Mississippi,” Cochran said during his brief victory speech late Tuesday night, in which he thanked those who had helped him secure what he called a "great victory. ... It's a group effort. It's not a solo. And so we all have a right to be proud of our state tonight."
The Associated Press reported that unofficial returns showed Cochran, a 76-year-old first elected to Congress in 1972, with a lead of just over 6,000 votes, holding 50.8 percent of the vote to McDaniel's 49.2 percent with 99.9 percent of precincts reporting.
A defiant McDaniel offered no explicit concession when he spoke to his supporters in Hattiesburg, but instead complained of "dozens of irregularities" that he implied were due to Cochran courting Democrats and independents.
"We are not prone to surrender, we Mississippians," McDaniel told his backers. "Before this race is over we have to be absolutely certain the Republican primary was won by Republican voters."
McDaniel later told his supporters there was “nothing dangerous or extreme about wanting to balance a budget, about defending the constitution and the civil liberties therein or for standing as people of faith for a country we built, that we believe in," he said.
Following the shocking ouster of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in Virginia June 10, Tea Party groups focused their energy on the Mississippi race - backing McDaniel - as the next test of their own influence.
The race attracted about $12 million in spending from outside groups. Former Green Bay Packers quarterback — and Gulfport, Mississippi, native — Brett Favre called the 76-year-old Cochran a "proven and respected leader" in one ad paid for by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Cochran and his allies, notably former Gov. Haley Barbour, promoted his Washington establishment credentials, focusing on the billions he funneled to his home state, one of the poorest in the nation. In a last-ditch effort, Cochran reached out to traditionally Democratic voters — blacks and union members — who could cast ballots in the runoff. That possible factor in Cochran's victory is sure to be cited by critics in days and weeks to come.
In predominantly black neighborhoods of Hattiesburg's south side, an organized effort for Cochran was evident. Ronnie Wilson, a 50-year-old unemployed Hattiesburg man, said he had been encouraged by his pastor to vote for Cochran.
"They say the other guy is trying to cut food stamps and all that," Wilson said. "I'm trying to look after the majority of people not working."
McDaniel had railed against the federal "spending sprees" by Cochran, but his calls to slash the budget unnerved some voters.
Frank McCain, a 71-year-old retired tax administrator from Mendenhall, voted for Cochran.
"I believe he is doing a good job," McCain said. "But mostly I'm more scared of the other candidate. He wants to do things like not taking school funding when everyone else is."
Kellie Phipps, a 42-year-old public school teacher from Taylorsville, voted for McDaniel. "I think we need some new blood," Phipps said.
In November, Cochran will face Democrat Travis Childers, a former congressman, in the heavily Republican state.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Clinton: I’m not ‘truly well off’

Hillary Clinton, who has a net worth upwards of $50 million, said in an interview that she is "unlike a lot of people who are truly well off." 
Clinton was derided for comments made last week that her family was "dead broke" when it left the White House in 2000 although they were far from the poverty line. Bill and Hillary Clinton have reportedly made more than $100 million since leaving the White House. 
But Hillary, who charges a six figure speaking fee, says with a burst of laughter that she is not "truly well off" and that her wealth is the result of "hard work," according to The Guardian: 

"America's glaring income inequality is certain to be a central bone of contention in the 2016 presidential election. But with her huge personal wealth, how could Clinton possibly hope to be credible on this issue when people see her as part of the problem, not its solution? 

"'But they don't see me as part of the problem,' she protests, 'because we pay ordinary income tax, unlike a lot of people who are truly well off, not to name names; and we've done it through dint of hard work,' she says, letting off another burst of laughter. If past form is any guide, she must be finding my question painful."

'You have a problem with credibility': IRS chief comes under fire at House hearing

A fiery exchange erupted Monday night between IRS head John Koskinen and House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, who told him, “we have a problem with you and you have a problem with credibility.”
Koskinen appeared at a rare evening hearing on Capitol Hill to answer questions about the missing emails of ex-IRS official Lois Lerner, a key figure in the committee’s probe into the agency’s targeting of conservative groups. The agency claims the emails were lost in a 2011 computer crash.
In a heated back-and-forth with Issa, Koskinen said he had fulfilled his promise to the committee to provide it with all of Lerner’s emails and that there was no way to recover ones the agency said were lost in 2011.
“If you have a magical way for me to do that, I’d be happy to hear about it,” Koskinen sarcastically told Issa. 
“I’ve lost my patience with you,” Issa, R-Calif., shot back.
In his opening statement, Issa showed a long series of clips from mostly Republican members at a March hearing, where lawmakers repeatedly asked Koskinen for Lerner’s emails. Issa said Koskinen promised he would provide all of Lerner’s emails, and gave no indication he would not be able to do so.
Koskinen said he first learned there was a problem with Lerner's computer in February, but didn't learn that the emails had been lost until April. The IRS notified Congress about the lost emails on June 13. 
“We are just questioning what your word is worth....do we have to grill you (for) days or weeks or months?” Issa asked.
Koskinen said that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the watchdog that uncovered the IRS targeting scandal, has launched an investigation into the missing emails. 
"It is not unusual for computers anywhere to fail, especially at the IRS in light of the aged equipment IRS employees often have to use in light of the continual cuts in its budget these past four years," Koskinen said. "Since Jan. 1 of this year, for example, over 2,000 employees have suffered hard drive crashes.
"So it should be clear that no one has been keeping this information from Congress," he added.
The IRS was able to generate 24,000 Lerner emails from the 2009 to 2011 period because she had copied in other IRS employees. Overall, the IRS said it is producing a total of 67,000 emails to and from Lerner, covering the period from 2009 to 2013.
Lerner is the former head of the division that processes applications for tax-exempt status. The Oversight Committee is investigating the handling of applications from Tea Party and other political groups.
Since the IRS revealed that the cache of Lerner's emails was missing, Issa has suggested that Lerner had intentionally destroyed her emails with the help of the agency. The committee’s ranking member, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said in his prepared opening remarks that it was clear Issa’s claims were inaccurate, and the situation simply a failure of electronic record-keeping at a federal agency.
“Republicans have been trying desperately—and unsuccessfully—for more than a year to link this scandal to the White House,” Cummings said. “Rather than continuing on this path, I sincerely hope we will turn to constructive legislation with concrete solutions to help federal agencies run more effectively and efficiently.”
Koskinen said there was no evidence that Lerner intentionally destroyed the emails. To the contrary, he claimed, the IRS went to great lengths trying to retrieve lost documents on Lerner's computer, even sending it to the agency's forensic lab.
Koskinen had a long record of government service before taking over as head of the IRS at the start of the year. He served in different positions under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and worked for the District of Columbia.
Lerner, who is now retired from the IRS, has refused to testify at two Oversight Committee hearings, invoking her constitutional right against self-incrimination.
Late Monday, the White House said that Jennifer O'Connor, a former IRS employee who is currently employed in the White House counsel's office, would appear before the committee Tuesday morning. O'Connor, who worked at the IRS from May to November 2013, helping the agency gather documents related to congressional investigations, had been subpoenaed earlier Monday evening by Issa, who said he wanted to ask her about the missing emails. 
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ISIS joins forces with Saddam loyalists in bid to take Baghdad

 Bailey: "We tried to help these people with the blood of our young soldiers. But they don't want any help, so let em kill each other off!"

For 10 years, members of Saddam Hussein's Baathist party -- including many of the dead dictator's top generals -- have hidden in the shadows of Iraq, persecuted by government in Baghdad and plotting, praying and preparing for the chance to reclaim their country. 
Now they are back, paired in a bloodthirsty alliance with the brutal jihadis of the Islamic States of Iraq and Syria/Levant. These vicious Islamic radicals fighting alongside top officials from Hussein's dictatorship, are working to seize control of the battle-scarred nation. For now, their objectives converge.
 "[We are] unified by the same goal, which is getting rid of this sectarian government, ending this corrupt army and negotiating to form a Sunni Region,” a senior Baathist leader told FoxNews.com.

"[We are] unified by the same goal, which is getting rid of this sectarian government, ending this corrupt army and negotiating to form a Sunni Region.”- Baathist leader in northern Iraq

After the invasion of Iraq, thousands of Baathist’s lost their jobs: teachers, doctors, professors, soldiers. Banished from holding any public-sector positions, many found themselves unable to support and feed their families, and their anger grew. This purge is considered one of the major blunders of the invasion, and although it was partly overturned in 2008, the damage had been done.
For a decade, tensions in the Sunni regions simmered under these conditions, as Maliki’s Shia government sought retribution for decades of Saddam's brutal rule. Many who once were part of the regime found it hard to put food on the table, their anger building as their communities suffered. That the Maliki government continues to shell rebel held cities today, despite the fact many within are innocent civilians, further isolates Sunni communities and pushes them into the sphere of Sunni rebels.
Ultimately it was the failure of Maliki’s government to reach out to these elements that created the ISIS alliance in Iraq. It has drawn comparisons to Syria, where ISIS forces joined with the Free Syrian Army with the intention of toppling Bashar al-Assad's regime; but in Syria the alliance imploded. The patriotic group fighting to liberate Syria, eventually faced off against the violent jihadists seeking to carve out an extreme fundamentalist state, and today they are at war.
Much has been written about ISIS's blitzkrieg across northern Iraq, but it is unlikely the fighters would have been as successful without the Baathists. Three of Saddam's former generals led the takeover of Mosul, and eight of the top 10 generals in the ISIS army are believed to be Baathists. Izzat Douri, a former military commander who Saddam considered to be like a brother, is widely rumored to be in Mosul, overseeing the conflict after hiding out in Qatar and Syria for a decade.
In addition to their military training, the Baathists have been able to tap strong tribal ties in the region to command countless followers. That's helped to keep the conquered territory in ISIS hands while the army of terrorists and freed soldiers moves forward toward the prize: Baghdad and the holy Shia cities of Karbala and Najaf.
“As an effective fighting force alone, ISIS would never have been able to hold such large territories, a Kurdish intelligence officer told FoxNews.com but with the help of Baathists [united under the banner of the Naqshbandi army], they have been able to keep the momentum going.”
The ISIS fighters, their ranks swollen with foreign jihadists hardened from conflicts in Syria, Chechnya, Afghanistan and others locations, lead the charge. Under the direction of former Iraqi generals and the ISIS leader Al-Baghdadi, they rely on the strong network of Sunni tribes and Baathists behind them, many nostalgic for the security of Saddam's era.
Hussein's image has again become popular in the north and west, and soldiers call out “Father, father,” while they watch video tributes to him. His image is found in many a home from Fallujah to Mosul. The Kurdish judge who sentenced Hussein to death in 2006, Raouf Abdul Rahman, was reportedly captured and executed on Sunday, although his death cannot yet be confirmed.
And this remains a family cause. Raghad Hussein, who now lives in Jordan, gave an interview a few days ago.
“I am happy to see all these victories,” she said. “Someday, I will return to Iraq and visit my father’s grave. Maybe it won’t happen very soon, but it will certainly happen.” 
In the meantime she has been indicted by Interpol, for “inciting terrorism in Iraq.”
The alliance between ISIS and the Baathists may be their greatest strength at the moment, but the rifts are growing. In the last week, there have been internal clashes, as the more moderate Sunni fighters struggle with the brutality of ISIS. Many within the Baathist party are unsure they can control ISIS, and fear that once they have secured territory, they will try to impose strict Sharia law on towns under Baathist rule.
In a petty rift, ISIS troops fought Naqshbandi soldiers over an armored vehicle, with five men killed. In another battle on Sunday, 17 fighters were killed as the groups clashed again. As one Sunni fighters put it "unlike ISIS, we are not playing football with people's heads"
With the U.S. already considering the strange prospect of working with Iran to curb the ISIS advance, it is possible that down the road, America's allies could be the very Baathists and Sunni fighters it once ousted from power.

Over & Over Again

Kerry arrives in Iraq amid threat of widening sectarian war

Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Iraq Monday to try and prevent the country from descending into sectarian civil war fewer than three years after the departure of American forces. 
Kerry was scheduled to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as well as senior Kurdish and Sunni leaders. Kerry was expected to personally urge the Shiite al-Maliki to give more power to political opponents in an attempt to defuse a Sunni insurgency that has captured large amounts of territory in the north and west of the country, including several key border crossings between Iraq and Syria. 
"This is a critical moment where, together, we must urge Iraq's leaders to rise above sectarian motivations and form a government that is united in its determination to meet the needs and speak to the demands of all of their people," Kerry had said a day earlier in Cairo.
The meeting between Kerry and al-Maliki was not expected to be friendly, given that officials in Washington have floated suggestions that the Iraqi premier should resign as a necessary first step toward quelling the vicious uprising. 
However, a senior State Department official said that Kerry would not ask al-Maliki to resign Monday because "it's not up to us."
Currently, Baghdad is operating under a lame-duck government, as a new parliament that was elected in April has not yet selected its Cabinet ministers. It took more than nine months to seat a new government the last time Iraq underwent the process, in 2010. This time around, the State Department official said, al-Maliki and other Iraqi officials cannot risk exacerbating the political instability, and further inflaming the insurgency, by stalling a new and more inclusive government.
Both President Barack Obama and Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, also have urged al-Maliki to quickly form an inclusive government that promotes the interests of all of Iraq's ethnic and religious groups.
The senior State Department official said the insurgents' recent march on Baghdad has been slowed, although concerns remain that ISIS will attack the golden-domed Shiite shrine to the Imam al-Askari in Samarra. That city, in Sunni territory in north-central Iraq, was the site of a 2006 bombing that triggered the worst of the war's sectarian fighting. Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared that Iraq is currently in a civil war.
Adding to the country's fragmentation is the role of Kurdish fighters, who seized the strategic oil city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq earlier this month. Control of the city has long been a point of contention between leaders of the autonomous Kurdish region and the government in Baghdad.
The senior State Department official acknowledged Monday that the Kurds may hold Kirkuk for the foreseeable future, saying, "I mean, if you just look at where the [Kurdish forces are] now compared to where they were two weeks ago, not so much out of a deliberate move but out of just the exigency of the situation. Some facts on the ground can be created that might not be reversed."  
The official briefed reporters on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to be named in discussing the negotiations. He described al-Maliki and other Iraqi officials as anxious about what, if any, additional help the U.S. might provide to help curb ISIL after Obama this week said he would send about 300 special forces troops to Baghdad to advise and train local security forces.
Obama did not rule out the possibility of also launching airstrikes against the insurgents, but that is not expected anytime soon, if ever, and he has adamantly said he will not send combat forces back to Iraq.